After 3 1/2 years of preparing for a federal wrongful death trial, it
took one day of marathon negotiations with the help of a mediating judge
to resolve the James P. Chasse Jr. case.

The father, mother and brother of the 42-year-old mentally ill man who
died in police custody on Sept. 17, 2006, spent nearly five hours Monday
with their attorney in a back room near Judge Ann L. Aiken's Courtroom
12. City attorneys huddled with Police Chief Rosie Sizer and Police
Commissioner Dan Saltzman in a nearby room.

Aiken went back and forth between them. By 4 p.m., the two sides had
reached agreement on a $1.6 million settlement, just three weeks before
trial. It is the city's largest payout for a civil tort claim.

Beyond the cash award, the Chasse family won what they've wanted since
they filed the lawsuit in February 2007: the release of the Portland
internal affairs investigation, training and discipline records relevant
to the case. The documents have been under a court protective order
that was sought by the city.

The family expects the release of the documents will help tell "the true
story" of what happened to Chasse when police confronted him in the
Pearl District.

"James would have wanted the truth to come out by settling the case
now," the family said in

The City Council may vote on the settlement as early as next Wednesday.

The city becomes the third and last party to settle the Chasse suit. Multnomah County settled its part last summer for $925,000, and ambulance company American Medical Response Northwest Inc. settled in December for $600,000.

Saltzman issued an apology to the family at a City Hall news conference and said the settlement was in the best interests of the city and community. He acknowledged that had the case gone to trial, "probably the city's image would be tarnished."

Saltzman also said he supported the release of the police documents. "I believe the public needs to see and fully understand the events leading up to Chasse's death," Saltzman said.

Based on federal court and probate documents, the plaintiffs were set to argue that Portland Officer Christopher Humphreys, Sgt. Kyle Nice and then-Multnomah County deputy Bret Burton, now a Portland officer, tackled Chasse, smashed him face-first into a concrete sidewalk and "brutally assaulted him" and then engaged in a "deliberate cover-up" once they realized there were numerous civilian witnesses.

According to the plaintiffs, Humphreys announced to paramedics and civilian witnesses that he had found cocaine belonging to Chasse, when in fact he knew that what he had found and bagged as evidence were bread crumbs, court files say. Steenson planned to argue that the three officers failed to disclose to the paramedics and jail medical staff the full extent of their struggle with Chasse, and Humphreys and other officers falsely told witnesses that Chasse had cocaine convictions, was transient and on drugs.

The city was set to vigorously defend the officers and argue that Chasse died of excited delirium. The city contended that fractures to his ribs resulted from at least three different CPR attempts, by police and ambulance personnel on his final ride to Portland Adventist Center, where he died.

"I don't think there's any cover-up shown in this case," said Deputy City Attorney Jim Rice, noting there were plenty of disputed facts.

The city had obtained as an expert witness Dr. Vincent DiMaio, a forensic pathologist who co-wrote a book on excited delirium. DiMaio describes it as an "acute psychotic episode," usually brought on by schizophrenia or drug abuse, in which a person becomes uncontrollable and seems to develop superhuman strength. Such exertion can last until the heart stops. In recent weeks, the city also had filed documents suggesting that Chasse's mental health in the weeks before his death had deteriorated and that his family contact was minimal.

Chasse's lawyers had obtained medical experts to bolster state medical
examiner Dr. Karen Gunson's findings, which made no mention of excited
delirium. They intended to show that Chasse was tackled by three large
men, "repeatedly and viciously punched, struck, kicked, kneed in the
head, back, ribs and chest." They say he was repeatedly shot with a stun
gun and then died when paramedics and jail medical staff failed to
provide treatment.

In a prepared statement, Sizer on Tuesday said that she felt horrible
about Chasse's death and that the Chasse family deserved compensation.
But Sizer, who spoke earlier Tuesday at a Portland police memorial about
how officers do their jobs often in the "face of seemingly unrelenting
criticism," said she's been frustrated because she hasn't been able to
speak publicly about the Chasse case due to the lawsuit. On Tuesday, she
said the Police Bureau and officers involved had been "unfairly
demonized" and called Chasse's death a "horrible accident and not a
beating death."

The three officers arrested Chasse, 42, after one of the officers said
Chasse appeared to be urinating in the street. There was no evidence
that he had done so. Police said he ran when they approached. They
chased him, knocked him to the ground and struggled to handcuff him.

Medics did not take him to a hospital, saying Chasse's vital signs were
normal. But jail staff refused to book him because of his physical
condition. Chasse died while being taken to the hospital in a police
car. The medical examiner said he died of broad-based blunt-force trauma
to the chest. An autopsy revealed that he had 26 breaks to 16 ribs,
some of which punctured a lung.

Saltzman said he hopes with the settlement that the city can "begin to
heal."

"His death has led us all to take a serious look at the way we as a
community treat the mentally ill," he said. The Police Bureau now
requires ambulances to carry injured suspects and expanded crisis
intervention training for all its officers. Recently, it began a pilot
program pairing a mental health crisis worker with a patrol officer.

The city's self-insured reserves will cover the initial $1 million, and
its secondary insurance carrier will cover the remainder. City Attorney
Linda Meng said the city has spent more than $1 million to defend the
case, including labor costs and $220,000 to retain experts, for travel
and depositions. The plaintiffs have spent at least $1.5 million, court
records show.

Mayor Sam Adams, in a release Tuesday, said the settlement brings to a
close "a very troubling relationship" between the Police Bureau and city
residents. While there have been positive developments, Adams said, "we
need to be more proactive in making additional improvements."

Humphreys and Nice have served two-week unpaid suspensions as
discipline, which their union is contesting. Humphreys is off on a
work-related disability leave.

Officer Dave Dobler, of the Portland Police Association, said he
believes the officers would have preferred to have gone to court.

"We certainly hope that the citizens of our community know that officers
work very hard to avoid injury and loss of life whenever possible,"
Dobler said.

Chasse's family thanked the community for its support and urged it to
remain vigilant in its oversight of Portland police.